Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9Th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

Exhibitions Report: April to August 2019

Summary

Since the Meeting in Noordwijk there has been the Closing of the 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo and the Opening of Expo 2019 Beijing, both attended by AIPH delegations with exposure to millions. The opening of Expo 2019 Beijing was in the presence of President Xi Jinping and a number of world leaders. A site inspection was carried out in Yokohama (Japan) in anticipation of their formal application to host an A1 World Horticultural Expo in 2027. Other AIPH-approved events that have taken place in this period include Floralies Internationales Nantes (France) and Greentech (Netherlands). Work has been underway in revising the Regulations for International Horticultural Exhibitions. Section 1 – Exhibitions 1.1 Taichung - Taichung World Flora Exposition 2018/19 (A2/B1) This expo attracted 7.2 million visitors between November 2018 and April 2019 and was deemed a successful event, receiving high levels of media promotion in the region. The Closing Ceremony took place on 24 April and included speeches from AIPH President, Bernard Oosterom and the new and former mayors of the city. The Mayor changed in December, shortly after the start of the Expo. The AIPH Prize was won by the Netherlands for its promotion of Green City principles. See http://aiph.org/aiph_new/aiph-award-goes-to-the-netherlands-at-closing-of-2018-taichung- world-flora-expo/.

The AIPH/COA garden, designed by Nilufer Danis, was very popular with visitors and achieved its objectives. Further photos of the garden and a video of its construction can be viewed at http://aiph.org/aiph_event/taichung-chinese-tapei-201819-a2b1/.

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

Bernard Oosterom, Tim Briercliffe, Kevin Chung, Shinya Wada and Bill Hardy were members of the International Honorary Jury which had its second round on 23 April. At the point of writing this report we are still waiting for final confirmation of the gate fee income to AIPH. The Final Report is available with the General Meeting annexes.

1.2 International Horticultural Exposition Beijing China 2019 (A1) Expo 2019 Beijing opened with a grand opening ceremony on 28 April in the presence of President Xi Jinping who gave a significant speech on plans for ecological development in China and the role of the Expo in promoting this message. There were also around eight other heads of state present from countries involved in the Belt and Road initiatiative. Other speeches were given by Bernard Oosterom and Vicente Loscertales (BIE). See http://aiph.org/aiph_new/11247/ for details, photos and video.

The Opening Ceremony included music and performances from around the world with an emphasis on the ‘live green live better’ theme. The International Honorary Jury has performed two rounds so far with jury members including Bernard Oosterom, Tim Briercliffe, Tim Edwards, Kevin Chung, Osman Bagdatlioglu, Qixiang Zhang and Katarzyna Radiz.

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

The AIPH Garden had a formal opening on 29 April. See http://aiph.org/aiph_new/aiph- rewilding-garden-gives-visitors-green-city-experience-at-expo-2019-beijing/.

The garden was designed by Peter Chmiel and Chin Chen from Grant Associates and was sponsored by Expo 2024 Horticultural Lodz and PERA Event. The concept of the garden is ‘re-wilding’ to demonstrate how the landscape can be used for functional purposes within the city. Tim Briercliffe gave a speech, alongside Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, during the China Pavilion National Day on 6 June. On the same day speaking at the Zhejiang provincial day. In the early weeks visitor numbers were strong but these dropped off in June. Organisers were developing strategies to increase numbers from the summer onwards. One of the key challenges for visitors is how to access the site as the journey from Beijing centre is quite long. The Expo will close on 7 October and the Closing Ceremony will tale place on 9 October. AIPH members will be able to visit the Expo on 10 September, during the AIPH 71st Annual Congress.

1.3 International Horticultural Exhibition Yangzhou China 2021 (B) AIPH will carry out an inspection visit in October 2019 to review progress. 1.4 Expo Hatay 2021 – Turkey (B) Following elections on 31 March 2019 the previous mayor, Lutfu Savas, was re-elected. AIPH is concerned about progress in the preparation of this Expo and an inspection will be carried out by Sven Stimac and Treve Evans in late August 2019. A report will be prepared for members to discuss. 1.5 Expo 2021 Doha Qatar (A1) AIPH members approved a change in location for the Expo during the Spring Meeting in Noordwijk. The expo is now being planned for Al Bidda Park in central Doha. This means that much of the infrastructure required is already in place so the organisers can focus on

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

other aspects of the Expo. Qatar will launch international invitations in August 2019 and will make use of its pavilion at Expo 2019 Beijing for this purpose.

Bernard Oosterom, Osman Bagdatlioglu and Tim Briercliffe visited the new location on 19 March. Qatar provided a stand for AIPH to exhibit at their annual Agriteq trade show in Doha in March. AIPH is in discussion with Qatar about collaborative projects in support of the Expo. 1.6 Floriade Amsterdam Almere – Netherlands 2022 (A1) The Floriade team have been active in securing international participation in the Expo and on developing the Expo site.

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

1.7 Australis 2020 – Sydney, Australia (B – Provisional) Australis has continued to have supportive meetings with the Australian Government and are continuing discussions for funding. 1.8 Kahramanmaras 2023 (B) - Turkey This Expo has been actively promoting itself during Expo 2019 Beijing by using the sponsorship of PERA Event for the garden. They have a staff member permanently based on the garden. They are also selling Kahramanmaras ice cream from the garden.

1.9 Expo Łódź 2024 (A1) – Poland The organisers have been active in promoting their Expo locally and internationally. They have a display in the AIPH Garden in Beijing Expo to promote their event.

PwC have been working on a study to enable them to implement the next phase of the Expo and commence further planning and construction. This has included consultation with citizens. Tim Briercliffe and Treve Evans met with the organisers in Warsaw on 22 July. 1.10 Yokohama 2027 (A1) – Japan – Application The City of Yokohama is making a formal application to host an A1 Expo in 2027. This will be considered by members during the General Meeting on 9 September. A site inspection was conducted by Bernard Oosterom, Tim Briercliffe, Tim Edwards, Kevin Chung and Takuhiro Yamada on 18-19 July. Shinya Wada and Tetsu Nomura from JLCA were also present. See the separate site inspection report for further details. The visit was hosted by the Mayor and Vice Mayor of Yokohama. In addition to visiting the proposed site the inspection team also visited Sankeien Gardens and Sakata Seed Corporation.

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

1.11 Other potential B Category Expos AIPH has been in discussion with Thailand regarding a potential application for 2026 and Suncheon (South Korea) regarding a potential application for 2023. Both will present their interest during the AIPH Expo Conference on 9 September in Beijing. T Briercliffe, K Tambayong and E Terekhova met with Mayor Park from Sinan in Korea on 1 May regarding the potential for an Expo in that region. 1.12 Floralies Internationales Nantes 2019 (C) – France This C category Expo took place from 8-19 May 2019. B Oosterom and T Briercliffe participated in the International Jury and B Oosterom presented the awards prior to the opening. The organisers gained new countries as a result of AIPH approval and were pleased with the relationship with AIPH.

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

1.13 Other potential C category Expos AIPH is in discussion with the International Orchid Show in Tainan (Chinese Taipei). T Briercliffe, K Tambayong and E Terekhova also attended the Goyang show in Korea in May 2019 and they are considering making an application. T Briercliffe gave a presentation to the Council of Asian Flower Exhibitions (CAFÉ) on AIPH and made contacts with exhibition organisers in Nepal, Malaysia, Pakistan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Dubai.

T Briercliffe also met with representatives of Floralien, the Belgian Floralies. They intend to become an Affiliate Member and then potentially seek AIPH approval for their next edition (after the one coming up). 1.14 Greentech 2019 (D) – Netherlands Greentech took place on 11-13 June 2019 at the RAI in Amsterdam. This year AIPH provided additional support with advertising in FloraCulture International. The show was a success for the organisers as this was the first time in its annual format which looks set to continue. AIPH are in discussion regarding approval for 2020. 1.15 Flormart 2019 (D) – Italy Flormart will take place on 26-28 September 2019 in Padova with continued AIPH approval. T Briercliffe will attend to give a presentation on the request of the organiser. 1.16 Other potential D Category trade shows IPM Essen (Germany) will be making an application for D category approval. Discussions are continuing with other shows including MyPlant and Garden (Milan, Italy), Green is Life (Poland) and Proflora (Colombia).

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

Section 2 – Strengthening the value in AIPH exhibition approval 2.1 AIPH Expo Conferences The next AIPH Expo Conference will be held in Beijing on 9 September 2019. Due to time constraints this will only include presentations from expos in preparation. 2.3 Expo Support Programme AIPH is now in a position to increase the support provided to Expos from initial interest stage through to approval and implementation. E Terekhova has outlined the steps involved in an A1 Expo (see below). AIPH will seek to enhance information provision and advice in each of these stages in a programme to be developed through 2020.

AIPH is in discussion with MI Associates (https://www.mi.com.au/) with regard to undertaking an ‘event asset valuation’. This should create an independently-generated evidence-base that will allow AIPH to demonstrate the value of A1 and B Expos to cities and other stakeholders. This could be used to generate more interest in hosting Expos, provide a tool for AIPH members wanting to persuade cities in their own countries, and increase the perceived value of the events. This would be done through a combination of research, economic modelling, and strategic input. The consultants propose to employ the direct expenditure methodology to calculate the projected event economic impact using metrics like attendance, event expenditure, visitors, valuation and visitor spend to make projections. The proposal will be considered by the Board.

AIPH Exhibitions Committee, Beijing, 9th September 2019 Annex 12 - Exhibitions Committee Report

Section 3 – Other organisations and partners 3.1 BIE Elena Terekhova attended the BIE General Assembly in Paris on 28 May. An update was given by Beijing, Floriade Almere and Expo 2021 Doha Qatar. Elena also met with a representative from the US State Department regarding potential US interest in horticultural expos following their failure to secure a BIE-approved Expo. 3.2 Other Organisations

T Evans has had discussions with the following organisations for developing AIPH Expo activity:

 Association of Global Event Suppliers (AGES) – www.ages.international  The Global Association of the Attractions Industry – iaapa.org  Host City

T Briercliffe and T Evans will attend Host City conference in Glasgow on 26-27 November https://www.hostcity.com/events/host-city. This will provide an opportunity to promote horticultural expos as a concept to cities and to strengthen our activity on having Preferred Partners. See the Secretary General Report for further details about AIPH work building partnerships with commercial companies that have an interest in Expos.